calling all founders, nonprofit leaders & creatives
Are you ready to
fund your
business ?
What if you could raise money with more confidence and less overwhelm? Our proven fundraising method has helped diverse founders raise up to $500K for their businesses, by leaning into their culture factor and the communities they serve. We’ll support your transformation from zero to money hero. Ready to go?
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Have You Been Trying to Raise Funds For Months With No Luck?
We’ve served clients on crowdfunding campaigns, Giving Tuesday, equity investment, corporate sponsorship, and even entrepreneurs raising seed funding through friends and family. In the process, we’ve helped hundreds of founders to dream bigger and imagine futures that they never thought possible. So, if you’re seeking fundraising support, you’re in the right place.
your success path
Education
Take the masterclass, Fundraising Insider: From Zero to Money Hero! for a bird’s eye view of what it takes to run a successful fundraiser. Set a deadline for your launch and start shifting your mindset to attract more money & support.
practice
Ready to launch your campaign? Our Launch in 5 Days course delivers a 5-day guide to setting up a crowdfunding campaign page—plus, key intel on how founder Iquo E. raised $35K in 8 weeks for her business. Take this DIY intro course for the definitive roadmap on launching your first (or next?) crowdfunding campaign.
mastery
Need a comprehensive fundraising strategy? Learn how to launch a successful fundraiser—and market it!—in our 60-day course & group coaching program. Follow our proven 4-step method to fund your dream while mastering multiple strategies from crowdfunding and Giving Tuesday, to equity investment and corporate sponsorship, with a course & live coaching community.
what people are saying...
Iquo is an amazing coach. She is an accountability beast, gently steering you towards your creative goals, reminding you of why you are where you are, and what your goals are. An experience I’d highly recommend to others.
Chisara A.
Artist
Iquo is a consummate professional with a fantastic eye for detail as well as the big picture. She led outreach for an annual giving campaign that raised more in one day than ever before in our arts nonprofit’s twenty-year history.
Michael L.
theatre Director
Iquo held me accountable even when I didn’t believe it was possible. I was in awe of her brilliance. I thank her for believing in me when my confidence was shaken after a layoff and for pushing me to continue to dream big.
Anniedi E.
Entrepreneur & Speaker
Let's break it down
Take a peek and see what’s inside
Learn how to tell your story, market yourself and raise money for your work
step 1 | Learn before you launch
Become a Fundraising Insider and learn everything you need to know to run a successful fundraiser BEFORE you launch! Best of all, you’ll gain access to my members-only Facebook community where you can get your funding questions answered 24/7/365.
Think of this masterclass as a how-to manual for your journey, boiling down the essence of everything I’ve learned in my career—raising thousands of dollars for myself and my clients—so that you know what to expect when you get started raising money. And when you’re ready to take the next step, I’ve got some special courses for you!
Step 2 | Launch Your First Fundraiser
My Launch in 5 Days course will give you a quick start guide to setting up and launching a crowdfunding campaign in just 5 days.
Unlike most crowdfunding courses, focusing on technical stuff like algorithms and traffic, Launch in 5 Days teaches you how to craft your story, map your network, and connect with people, plus practical tips to launch quickly and sustain your momentum.
I’ll guide you through the same steps I took to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign—in just 5 days—that raised $35,000 for my creative dream.
At the end of the day, it’s not about launching in 5 days, it’s about getting you to stop waiting and start raising money today!
Step 3 | Fund Your Wildest Dream
After you get your feet wet on your first fundraiser, you’re ready to launch a major campaign to fund your dream. I help you make it happen in 60 days or less inside my flagship program, Crowdfund Your Dream.
Inside, you’ll develop a comprehensive fundraising & marketing strategy tailored to your project or business—and you’ll launch your campaign equipped with the tools to make it a success, whether you already have an established audience or not.
And if you feel like skipping the appetizers and digging into the main course, CFYD is a great place to start if you’re ready to take your work to the next level and amplify your impact!
more rave reviews
I was familiar with just the basic crowdfunding sites, but the masterclass helped me to understand many other strategies for how to raise money for an art project like mine.
Patrick v.
actor
The most important discovery I took away from the masterclass is how key marketing is to funding your dream. I would recommend this class to anyone who has a dream that they want to raise funds for.
susan v.
Circus Artist
Iquo helps me communicate and find my voice and how to present it to my community. I recommend Iquo to any struggling artist or business owner who has a dream, but does not know the steps to make it a reality.
Kelly M.
interior designer
program spotlight
Nonprofit Fundraising
Our 60-day flagship course will teach you how to tell your organization’s story, market your work, and raise money to fund your nonprofit’s mission. Need to hire a nonprofit fundraising consultant? Fill out our client application.
have you seen us?
need 1-on-1 support?
Hire a Fundraising Strategy Consultant
We’ve helped clients raise $10K in 24 hours on Giving Tuesday; $20K in an end-of-year giving campaign; $100K for a memorial scholarship fund; $200K for an educational nonprofit; and much more. Fill out our brief application form, and let’s get started!
About Our Founder, Iquo B. Essien
Iquo B. Essien is a writer, director, and consultant with a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford and an MFA in film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She helps diverse founders tell their stories, market their work, and raise money through her online course and consultancy, Crowdfund Your Dream. She supports founders from marginalized communities, drawing on 15+ years of experience in communications, marketing, and fundraising, as well as her background as an entrepreneur and filmmaker. Iquo has partnered with organizations like the Tory Burch Foundation and New York Foundation for the Arts to serve 1000+ founders on 3 continents.
Want to Work 1:1?
Hire Iquo as a consultant to tell your company's story, develop your fundraising strategy, or launch your next successful campaign.
"Crowdfund Your Dream is really helping us put our thoughts in action—plus, we raised $10K in 24 hours !"
a Crowdfund Your Dream Client
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